The 8 Dirtiest Tricks Played by Foes of Clean Energy Reform
5. Supporting a Carbon Tax
Okay, so this one's not as straightforward, but that's what makes it all the more devious. Ever since Australia began motioning for a cap and trade system, Exxon has called for a carbon tax instead, claiming that the more stable prices will make it easier for the company to navigate the markets. And while many climate experts (NASA's James Hansen) advocate a carbon tax over cap and trade, the smart money here says that Exxon simply knows that a carbon tax is untenable and won't fly anytime soon. No politician wants to be seen supporting a new tax, and voters are unlikely to take to them either. So by publicly supporting a carbon tax, Exxon gets to look like it's environmentally conscious while really it's merely effectively delaying climate action. We'll see if Exxon plays this card again as the Senate climate debates heat up.
Trick's Dirtiness: 5/10
Devious indeed, but it's a fair enough play, I suppose, and at least it's above the table.
6. Green Leader Witch Hunts?
When Glenn Beck started going after Van Jones, Obama's Green Jobs Adviser, it seemed like Beck just had an axe to grind, and that he'd picked his target for personal reasons: through a repetition of smears and paranoid references to his activist past, Beck succeeded in alarming the right wing base, and Jones resigned to avoid being a distraction to the Obama administration. Recent reporting from Alternet, however, suggests that Americans for Prosperity--an astroturf group backed by coal, oil and heavy industry interests (see below)--played a more strategic role in helping execute the witch hunt than it initially appeared. Phil Kerpen, a director for AFP, recently wrote a piece for FoxNews.com outlining how, now that they've ousted Jones, they need to take on cap and trade and the very notion of green jobs. And this makes some sense--Glenn Beck now appears to intend to attack more leaders, including Carol Browner, Obama's Energy and Climate Adviser, next. Though it's entirely speculative how much involvement the concerned industries actually have in these witch hunts--it may be none at all--the fear-mongering and the distorting of facts by those publicly executing such hunts is dirty business indeed.
Trick's (Alleged) Dirtiness: 10/10
If there is indeed an effort underway to systematically remove green leaders in the interest of protecting polluting industry interests via televised witch hunts and smear campaigns, then this is rock bottom dirty. If.
7. James Inhofe Opening his Mouth
You couldn't run a piece on dirty tricks played by clean energy reform opponents without mentioning perhaps the most infamous climate change denying senator, James Inhofe--see here as he goes for the most ineffective dirty trick ever: arguing that oil and gas don't pollute. At all. While there's nothing too shady about Inhofe--Grist actually gave him their highest transparency ratings, because he's forward about exactly where he stands. It's just that where he stands--he's compared the EPA to the Gestapo, implied that global warming is a hoax perpetrated by the Weather Channel (seriously), and that there's a "firestorm of opposition" to climate action in the US--is scientifically untenable, misleading to the public he represents, and often flat out wrong (the American public is in favor of passing climate legislation, there's no hoax, etc). So there's little behind the scenes sleaze with Inhofe--he plays his dirty tricks front and center every time he speaks on climate issues.
Trick's Dirtiness: 1/10
The man's entitled to his (misinformed, flying-in-the-face-of-science) opinion, and he's certainly free to speak his mind--the people keep electing him after all.
8. Forged Letters Opposing the Climate Bill
Some of the items on this list, while certainly a little sleazy at least, don't necessarily constitute straight-up foul play. Forging over a dozen letters from influential community leaders in the name of opposing clean energy reform does. That's what the notoriously shady Bonner & Associates lobbying firm did while working for Americans for Clean Coal Economy, a powerful coal industry group. After scandal erupted, Bonner immediately said the forgeries were the work of a rogue temporary worker who was fired, but that hardly seems plausible--that's a lot of freelance forging for one temp.
Trick's Dirtiness: 10/10
It's illegal, it's conniving, and it's downright low. It's the definition of a dirty trick.
More Dirty Tricks by Climate Opponents
Ten Dirty Things About Big King Coal
Dirty Clean Coal Lobby Gave $240000 to Obama Presidential Campaign
Revealed: 5 "Grassroots" Groups Funded by Dirty Energy
Clean Coal Carolers from an Industry Run By Morons
